Introduction

Lack of affordable housing consistently tops polls regarding the concerns of rural communities in Scotland. Many recognise that suitable housing is crucial to sustain local services and to enable young people to remain and return to rural communities; that the local school and village shop depend on families being able to make their lives in their home communities and that local services depend on key workers being able to access housing.

Yet communities have found it difficult to take direct action to solve this issue. While some have developed their own answers to other social and economic problems through community ownership of land, shops, even abattoirs, housing has for most been something that has been difficult for communities to do themselves.

The pages on this website are designed to help your community take action to develop affordable housing; by building housing yourself as a community; working with partners such as housing associations + councils; enabling affordable home ownership + self build to help people build their own homes; and to lobby for the development of affordable housing and infrastructure to sustain and regenerate your community.

Communities have a vital role in the development of affordable rural housing;

some like Knoydart + Gigha own land and can make land available for housing either by community, by housing associations or by local people.

communities can also tap into new money for housing investment using community shares or income from renewables to finance housing provision.

they can highlight housing needs and opportunities to local authorities and housing associations

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